Slack adjuster



March 30 1926.

W. H. SAUVAGE sLAcK ADJUSTER Filed May 17, 1924,

T PI

Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

- UNITE-D sures Parser oer-res..-

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TO THE GOULD CUUPLER COMPANY; A CORPORATION or MARYLAND;

SJZACK Anaus' ri n.

T all /1017), it wuzg/ concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SAUvAon, citizen of the United States; residing at New Y()Il,'-in. the county of New York and State,

5 of l ew York, have invented certain new and useful iinproven'ients in Slack Adjusters, of wl'iich the following is a specification.

his invention relates to improvements in slack adjusters and more particularly to-that type of automatic slack adjusters illustrated and described in; my prior Patent No. 1,227,- QT, dated January 12,1915.

One of the objects otthe present invention is to provide an'iinfproved slack adjuster of the above general character which will be reliable and efficient in use and operation and particularly adaptablc'to that type of rigging known as clasp brake rigging for the trucks of railway cars. k

Aff'urther object-'isito provide anautomatic' slack adjuster of the above general type having relatively few parts which may be inexpensively manufactnred and as-- senibledand applied to the brake rigging now in use: without. materialmodification.

' Other objects will'he in part obvious from the'annexeddrawings and in part indicated in connection th rewith by the following analysis of the inventi on. I v 39 This invention accordingly consists in-tho features of construction, combination of parts andin the unique relation of the members and in the relative propor tioningand disposition thereof, all as more completely 7 outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying 'eatures thereof that they may embody the same by thenuinerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as part of this disclosure, and

in such drawings like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, in whieh-- Figure! is a side elevational view of such parts of the complete mechanism applied to one wheel as is'fn'ecessary' to fully understand the application thereof;

Figure-2 is a plan view thereof partly in section; and

Figures 3 and 4 are detail sectional views. Referring now to the drawings in detail 5 indicates one wheel of an ordinary railway truck on the opposite sides of which are lost inotion slot 22 surroundingjthe pivot pin 23 enclosed in a'bush rig and supporting the brake; shoe head 8,;as shown1n.-Figures -8 through a second housing 25 also: provided Application filed my 17, 1924. seen 1a; 714,168.

mounted live and dead levers 6 and '7 respectivelyf These levers: carry intermediatetheir endsln'ake shoe heads Seach provided -with' a shoe adapted to co-act with theyperiphery of, the wheel 5. The lower ends of thellevers- 6 and 7' are connected respectively at the points 10 and 11 with a tie rod 12- of the'duplex type, as shown more clearly in Figure, 2', that is, the rod is in'two; parts connected attheir ends through housings or members 1% and 15, each provided with an opening 16in which the loweryend of the levers are mounted. One member-1.15 is-provided. at one side ith a temporary talce up and holding housing 17 containinga dog 18 normally held'in' canted position-by-means of a spring 20 within the housing-117. il -his dog or temporary take-up and holding means is preferably a; an. piece ofmetal provided with an opening through \Vlllchitll adjusting rod 2leis adapted to .pass. The opposite end of the rod2-1,isgprovi dedl with {a and 4. It will also be noted by, reference to Figure 2 that the housing or memberllii i provided with a push rod 24lwhichfl'passes with holding doge-Qdheldiri canted positionby means ofa spiral spring 2;? surrounding this rod. Interposed between tlldliUtlSlllQ;

17 and an adjustable stop28 on the-adjusting rod 21 is a spiral spring29 which adapted to. be compressed on excess'movement of the brake rigging dueto-ywear of the parts, and expand on release of the brakes to restorethe parts to normal position and permanently take up and hold the excess travel. y J Inorder that the above maybe more clearlylunderstood, a. brief statementoftheyoperation is as follows On application ofthe brakes-the upper-end of-thelive lever moves relatively; towards the, right, as indicated by the arrow adjacent pull rod 30, and reacts through theconnecting rod lQ; at the lower end to also move the- .dea d lever towards the Wheel 5 andbring the brake shoes into engagement with theperiphery. If excess travel occurs exceeding that provided for by the slot 22 then the adjusting rod 21 is moved towards the right and the exact amount of excess travel is retained by means of the temporary dog 18. The

spring 29 interposed between the relatively moving housing 17 and stop 28 is also compressed a corresponding amount.

lVhen the brakes are released the live and dead levers return to normal position under action of restoring spring 31 and balance spring 82, and the rod 21 causes the member 15 to be moved relatively towards the left a corresponding amount and in this movement the take-up rod 24 is moved relative to the dogs 26 in housing 25, which permanently takes up and holds the excess travel. It will be understood by reference to Figures 1 and 2 that the duplex rods 12 are freely movable relatively to, the member 15, sliding in recesses in the sides thereof, as clearly indicated.

It will thus be seen that the present invention contemplates a simple andpractical automaticslack adjuster particularly applicable to clasp brake rigging for railway trucks, and is well adapted to accomplish among others all of the objects and advantages herein set forth.

lVithout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art,

fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or speclfic aspects of the invention and, therefore, such adaptations are and should be intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim y c r v 1. In an automatic slack adjuster of the clasp brake type, in combination, live and dead levers, the upper ends ofjwhich move relatively towards each other during the application of the brakes, a tie rod connecting the lower ends of said levers, and fulerums intermediate the ends of said levers carrying brake shoes adaptedto be brought into engagement with the periphery of the wheel, said tie rod being relatively movable with respect to its point of connection with the dead lever, a temporary take-up mechanism associated with said point of connection, an adjusting rod connecting said point with the livelever near the pivot point of the live lever, a take-up rod, and permanent take-up and holding means associated with the'lower end of the dead leverrand said rod. I

2. In an automatic slack adjuster of th clasp brake type, in combination, a live compressed on. excess travel of the brake rigging and to expand or move said permanent take-up rod relative to its holding means.

3. In an automatic slack adjuster of the clasp brake type, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a tie rod connecting the lower ends of said lever adapted to be placed under tension on application of the brakes, temporary take-up mechanism as sociated with the lower end of the dead lever, an adjusting rod having a lost motion connection at one Tend and extending between said temporary take-up mechanism and the live lever adapted to be actuated on excess travel, permanent take-up and holding means including an adjusting rod' at the lower end of said dead lever, and means adapted-to be actuated on excess travel .on release of the brakes to' actuate the permanent take-up and holding means.

4'.- In an automatic slack adjuster of the clasp brake type, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a tie rod connecting the lower ends of said lever adapted to be placed under tension on appllcation of the brakes, a housing associated with the lower end of the dead lever having a' temporary end of the dead lever adapted to be actuated V on application of the brakes and then on release of the brakes to move the lower end of the dead lever relative to the tie rod, whereby the excess travel of the brake rigging is permanently taken up and held on the take-up rod. 7

In witness whereof I have signed my name. 1

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE. 

